I am really psyched about the new feature in iTunes 5, the Smart Shuffle. It has a little slide that allows you to tell iTunes how you want it to shuffle you playlists. You can have it more likely you’ll hear the same artists, albums or genres or random, or less likely you’ll hear the same artists, albums and genres. But when are they going to offer a firmware for the iPod that pulls your Smart Shuffle setting on to your iPod. I have about 1100 songs on my iPod but I am pretty loyal to some of my favorite artists and have 3 or more of their albums in iTunes. And until iTunes 5 I have both iTunes and my iPod will get in moods where they will play the same artists every couple of songs. Sometimes it’s months before I hear some music on my iPod or iTunes, but not anymore especially when they upgrade the firmware for the iPod. Thanks for listening to my rant today!

My wife and I and a lot of other dear people to us have been praying that God will show us His direction for our family and ministry. I’m not saying that God has totally opened the door for us and we are moving into an apartment but God has moved and we have an interview with a church in Florida. I won’t say where as I don’t think that it’s right (and if you know don’t say). From what I know this seems like a great opportunity and I can’t wait till the beginning of October for the interview. Please continue your prayers for our family and this opportunity. I know that God has a plan and in His time He will reveal it to us.

Last night we thought we were going to a church service at Savannah Christian Church but the had a youth musical program during their second Saturday night service instead. We saw the program, Revolution Underground, in the spring when they first put it on and as with last night we thought it is great. It’s an in house written program for the Jr. High Ministry and Sr. High Ministry. The story is about a war against Christians where church leaders are arrested and their parents are fighting the war and have hidden them underground. After about 60 days underground and no news from the surface the realize they are going to have to carry on with out their parents and youth ministers and sponsors. One realizes that he has to carry the torch of the gospel and be the spiritual leader of the group. All the High Schoolers find their talent and what they are going to be able to offer the whole group like encourager’s, prayer warriors, worship leader, musicians and even the one they call fridge (he provided the Twinkies). They find a group of Jr. High students wondering around and being plagued by demons while they sleep that are trying to make them forget their former lives and trying to brain wash them that they can’t rely on anybody but themselves. It’s really good and with all the singing of current songs like Revolutionary Love by The David Crowder Band, Revolution by Starfield, I get on my knees by Jaci Velasquez, and a few others I’ve heard before.

I as far as taking away thoughts about ministry I think that it does a great job of show those ministries off to the whole congregation and how they are reaching students. It builds confidence in the students and gives them something to look at as an accomplishment. I think most youth ministries little or big could do something like this and really pull it off and show off your ministry.

Since I’m having so much more down time than I ever imagined, I’ve had some time to think of a few ideas to use in my next ministry and I want to share them with you all.

First idea is a team building idea. You could take your whole group or just your leaders to a paint ball field. Take a few of your adult leaders for one team and your students on the other. Now the idea for your students to protect the other students. So they have to come up with ideas to cover each others back so that the adult team doesn’t pick any of the students off. If one or more of the students get hit with paint balls you could either end the game or send the whole team to firing squad. And the start the game over. Play a couple of rounds. Change the game up some, like make smaller teams, maybe your small groups could be their weekly small groups verse the adult leaders of their small group.

Second idea is kind of a drama. There is a lot of set up for this one. You want to go get black lights, neon paints or paints that will show up good in the black light, then maybe an apple, fake money, a bikini or other things that are temptations and paint them all with the paint. Also you want to buy all black clothes for your cast so that only the temptations show up on stage. Then write your message on temptations and the unseen warfare that is going on for their souls around the props that you bought. Shut off the lights, turn on the black lights and have some of your message acted out.

Yesterday, Honda released information about the 2006 Gold Wing. Of the new features of the bike was the first motorcycle air bag. This is a pretty cool way to keep bikers safe in some types of accidents.

Check out Honda’s site for more information.

I love the freedom you feel when riding a motorcycle. I don’t have a bike but have rode my friend’s bikes. My friend Chris used to have a Ninja 900cc when we were in college and I learned to ride on that really have and incredible fast bike. I was so scared of how fast that bike would go I would never let it about 55 mph. One of our friends was riding it when he owned (before Chris) and was driving down this back road from Kissimmee to Cocoa, FL and these guys wanted to race him (he’s crazy in case I forgot to tell you) and he got the bike up to 130 mph. I’ve rode on a Harley Road King across the Chesapeake Bay on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, which is very beautiful county to drive through and the Maryland crabs are great.

I had been seeing rumors that Apple was going to release a solid state (flash) memory Ipod bigger than 1 gig. Well today on their web site they have released the Ipod Nano, I think effectively replacing the Ipod Mini. It really cool looking because it is so freakishly small. Check it out. I also heard they might release a bigger version up to 8 gigs. WOW!

Do you ever get mail and wonder why they sent it to you? I got a letter in the mail from the ACLU. A side from the few token cases they throw the way of Christians or Conservatives I am total apposed to the ACLU. They push their agenda and worldview and want us to think they are looking out for us and our rights. I don’t know how they can think they are protecting Americans while trying to be the lawyers for enemies of the US at Gitmo. Or how about how they are the lawyers for a group called NAMBLA, the North American Man Boy Love Association, what how could they think that this is what the American people want to be legal.

What a waste of paper and postage this letter is!

It’s a little blurry but you can see. I got to ride a Segway. A Segway. A local tour company has started offering tours of Savannah on a Segway. It was so cool, I only got to ride for about a minute but man it was so amazing. Balancing, leaning forward to move forward, leaning back to move backward, turning the handle to turn left or right. I can turn on a dime. Did I say it was amazing. With gas cost where they are I’m trying to talk my wife into one for the trip to work.

I am so saddened by the pictures coming from Mississippi and Louisiana. It is total devastation. I feel great pain for those suffering and who now have nothing. I don’t think I would have ever thought the parts of the US would become a Third World Country. I been to Haiti twice and the pictures I’ve seen on the affected areas look a lot like what I’ve seen in parts of Haiti. One thing I don’t understand about human nature is looting. I can totally understand food and necessities but when people loot from clothing stores bringing out designer jeans, name brand shoes and jerseys. That really bothers me. Humans sometimes just don’t get it.

Their are two churches that are in the are that are helping with relief efforts. Journey Christian Church in New Orleans and Bay Area Christian Church - (281) 480-5683 - 14550 Highway 3, Houston, TX 77058. Also International Disaster Emergency Services has specialized in providing relief like what is need for 30 yrs around the globe is taking donations and send teams down to help out if you would like to donate to them.